The banana diaries

HELLO OUT THERE!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last posted! There have been many changes and new, exciting happenings in the works that I haven't had a chance to catch up here. I kept telling myself, Just write a post tomorrow morning, it'll be fine. Then, tomorrow morning would come, andddd I'd find myself too busy to just sit down and write. Well, now here we are! Also can we take a moment and acknowledge that it's already Halloween?! Where did October go...

Anyways! So last week was my last full week at my old job before I start my new job in two weeks!! Okay, now it's like a week and a half. But still, I'm super pumped for what's to come, and I'm definitely enjoying this much needed break. I've been keeping up my mileage this week, but also enjoying some extra zzz's because I have seriously been running on empty (yes, literally and figuratively). Below is what my mileage has looked like for the week so far:

To be honest, my body is feeling a little beat this week, so I'm absolutely taking a rest day Saturday (and maybe Sunday if I feel like I need it!). I also have spending some time whipping up some new recipes for the blog, which I'm so excited to share with you next week! But first, I wanted to send you off for the weekend on an Autumn-tastic good note: pumpkin muffins.

Fluffy.Sweet.Soft.Moist.Pumpkin Spicey!

What better way to bring in the last weekend of October than with pumpkin muffins?! And for all of you health nuts out there, pumpkin has some great benefits too. Research shows that the antioxidants found in pumpkin can improve your eyesight (thank you, beta-carotene) and protect your heart. It also is chock full of tryptophan, which we all know helps us sleep (it's also found in turkey, a.k.a. why you sleep so well after Thanksgiving haha!), but people often forget that this amino acid is extremely important in the production of serotonin, which then boosts your mood :) Pretty cool, huh?

Check out the recipe below, and let me know how you like it! Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Gooooood Monday Morning!

How was everyone's weekend? We had a blast exploring the Farmer's Market at Union Square this past Saturday, as well as strolling through Central Park! We also had some fantastic meals out, including a date night at The Little Beet Table and brunch at Two Hands Cafe. No complaints here!

I absolutely love the Farmer's Market in Union Square. They host it every Saturday, bringing in local farms and companies from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. I could easily spend an entire day (and wallet haha) there going from stand to stand! Last night, we decided to make a feast out of alllll of our farmer's market treasures, including what I believe to be the star of the meal, the delicata squash!

Lately, spaghetti squash has been getting all the love (and it truly is a wonderful fall veggie that's chock full of nutrients!). Often times, however, people forget about the delicata squash (a.k.a. winter squash), which is equally as nutritious and tastes like a sweet potato (bonus: you can eat the skin!! Probably the best part of it too!). These guys are actually full of antioxidants, including a healthy dosing of Vitamins A, C, and B's, as well as a decent amount of fiber and manganese. This means that roasting up a delicata squash will give you optimal bone health (YO, RUNNERS! READ: STRESS-FRACTURE PREVENTION). The winter squash also has anti-inflammatory benefits, important for muscle and tissue recovery after hard exercise! It may even be beneficial in cancer prevention. I can't get enough of this squash!

Alongside our squashes, we sautéed some organic zucchini, chard, and beet leaves in coconut oil, roasted some baby beets, and seared grass-fed steak! It was probably my favorite meal this weekend. Check out the recipe below!

Delicata Squash and Farmer's Market Feast

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 delicata squash

1 zucchini

1 bag swiss chard

1 bunch beets, leaves trimmed and saved for later (to sauté!)

5 oz grass-fed beef

coconut oil

Directions:Squash:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the squash on a baking sheet and in the oven. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until shell is soft.

Once soft, remove from oven and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds (these can be saved for later roasting if desired!)

Flip over so the meat of the squash in facing the pan and roast for 20 minutes.

Flip over again and roast until the inside are slightly crisp on the outside, about 5 minutes.

Beets:

In a large saucepan, boil the beets for about 45 minutes.

Remove from water. Slice in half.

Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 20-30 minutes, or until completely soft on the inside.

Veggies and Steak:

In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil.

Add veggies and cook until soft.

Remove veggies and add another tbsp of coconut oil.

Add beef and sauté until thoroughly cooked.

Serve with squash and beets! Enjoy!

That's it for now! Have a wonderful Monday, and see ya soon!

Hey, everyone! Happy Friday :)

How was everyone's week? Mine was very busy, per usual, but then again, who isn't busy these days? I feel like we constantly go from one thing to the next and never get a second to just pause. So take a second right now! Stop and think about one thing that you're grateful for in this very moment.

Pausing...Pausing..Pausing...

I want to share with you what I'm grateful for. Today, I'm grateful for this beautiful fall weather. It's 50 degrees and sunny outside. The air might be a bit chilly, but the sun will warm you up, which is the best feeling. I'm also grateful for black coffee; there are few things better than sipping a nice cup of dark roasted brew while slowly waking up. I'll admit that the bitterness is an acquired taste, but now I've come to love it and can't imagine it any other way! I'm really grateful for the love and support I feel from my family, boyfriend, and friends. I'm so lucky to have them in my life; they help me to stand tall and strong, even when I don't feel it inside.

It's always good to remember what we're grateful for, right?

Now, on to today's post. The other day, I was reading this article about a common trend in running to use ibuprofen to get through injuries and how incredibly damaging and unhealthy that is to the body and mind. While reading that article, I felt a pang of guilt because I was that runner, on an extreme level.

I remember the days when I had a very unhealthy relationship with running, the days in which I literally destroyed my body because I exceeded the amount that was healthy for me personally to run. At one point during my junior year, I increased my mileage drastically while maintaining a very restrictive diet. I remember starting to feel the pains in my lower shins. I told myself it's just shin splints, I'll recover soon enough and be on my way to even more miles per week. Well, this was dumb. My body was trying to tell me that I had exceeded my limits and that I needed to slow down, but me being the stubborn ass that I am (my family and friends can attest to this statement), I kept running.

I started out by taking one Advil every four hours and kept running. I ran despite the increasing pain in both of my shins. First, it started out dull, like an ache from being hit. Then it worsened. To remedy this, I increased my Advil; I was now taking nine Advil a day. The pains turned from dull aches into what felt like sharp knives cutting at my shins. I increased yet again, now reaching a point of 12-14 Advil per day.

Then one morning, I couldn't get out of bed. My legs killed to the point where I was biting back tears. Now, I have an extremely high pain tolerance, and I think that comes with being a distance runner. We're trained to endure pain and almost enjoy it. But when I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom that morning, I immediately fell to the ground because the pain was too much to bare. I had exceeded stress fractures and now had two broken legs. At the time, I lived on the third floor and had to be carried downstairs because I couldn't walk. To be a runner and not be able to walk down stairs, you better believe my pride was hurting. That was the "breaking" point (excuse the horrible pun). My body wasn't just screaming at me to stop, but it physically thwarted me from not listening to it anymore.

That was my cue to get help. I dragged my feet (both literally and figuratively) to an appointment with the bone doc. At this point, I was still taking 12 Advil per day just to take the edge off the pain, or else I would be in tears from the amount of agony I felt. He came in with the x-rays of my legs and showed me where the breaks were; my shins lit up like a Christmas tree. It looked like someone took a hammer to both of my legs. The doc told me that it would take at least 4-6 months to heal these breaks, and in the time between, I was to be in a wheelchair, doing no exercise. Well once again, me being the stubborn ass that I was (and still am ), I refused the wheelchair; my pride could not take another hit after my stupidity in not listening to my body when it cried out for rest. I agreed to doing a double boot and crutches.

After months of wobbling around and begrudgingly listening to my doctors (my body was singing "Hallelujah"), I finally got to take off the boots and take my first steps. I expected to feel normal, but it was still painful. By this time, I had finally gotten down to taking eight Advil per day. But why was I still in pain? My stubborn brain thought, This is easy, just take more Advil!

And so I did. As I walked more, the pain was dull, but remained the same. When I gained enough strength, I started to use the elliptical and cycling. My shins still hurt, but I fought through it (though I probably shouldn't have). I began running again prematurely, while still using Advil to kill the pain. I would take some before and after my run. This was a mistake. I may have gotten back to my old mileage, but I was still in a lot of pain and still abusing the Advil. Needless to say, I ended up re-injuring myself, now with one stress fracture.

And that was finally it. It took two serious injuries for me to finally realize I couldn't keep beating up my body like this. I was determined I wasn't going to let my stubbornness get in the way anymore. I needed to treat my body with the respect and care it deserved and so desperately needed. No more numbing the pain with Advil. No more running and overdoing it with exercise when my body should be resting. No more listening to the little voice in my head saying just one more mile when my body had reached its exhaustion point. And you know what? I finally listened to my body and it told me what I needed to do. I stopped taking Advil and I started taking rest days. My body wasn't designed to endure seven days of rigorous activity like some are. To perform best, I needed those rest days in between long runs and speed workouts. I let my body speak and you know what? It rewarded me.

I am faster, I can train harder, and I actually enjoy it more. I can now tell more accurately when my body needs a break before I reach another serious injury because Advil is not dulling my pain. What's more, I can run pain-free now, and let me tell you, it is magical. That's when my relationship with running also morphed. Running went from being a numbers thing that played with my OCD to being a therapy and an escape from my thoughts, a brief moment when my body, mind, and soul are entirely present and in tune.

So try it. Next time you want the Advil before you run, try to not have it and just run until it feels good. One of my favorite running quotes to leave you with for the weekend:

Enjoy your long run this weekend :)

Well, hello there!

How was everybody's weekend? It's Tuesday, but feels like Monday for me since I had yesterday off! It was nice to have some days off (always good to see family and hit the reset button!), but now I'm ready to get back into my routine!

I thought I'd start the week off by talking about what goes through my mind on a run. I've heard some people say that running is boring, too painful, or they need a distraction (like watching reruns of "The Office"...guilty) on the treadmill to keep them occupied. Yes, I totally agree that treadmill running sucks ass, and I too need a distraction from constantly watching the time tick by. Although I have to say, I get pretty competitive with whoever steps on the treadmill next to me. If you take that treadmill, you better believe we're racing the entire time (I'm not sorry about it).

So! This post will be a little different from my normal posts, but it's always nice to change the pace up a bit (pun intended). I know I have said this before, but running really is one of the only things that quiets my mind. It's one of the few moments during the day when I am entirely present, so I really don't have that many thoughts going through my head once I get past the first mile or two, but when I do have little weird inklings, I take note of them. I wish I was more present during the day, and I'm working towards that, but for now, I enjoy running as my "me" time, my time to recharge and reset so that I can be the best I can be during the day. Enjoy :)

Mile 0.000001

Ready, set, GO!Ooooh this feels good! I feel like I'm running on clouds, how could anyone ever hate this?!Wow, I'm going fast this is fun.Oooh look how pretty this place is! What's that over there?Man, it's dark out for 5:30. Thank God for street lights. I wonder when the sun will start rising. Probably around Mile 3.God, this feels so good. I love running!!

Mile 1

Oooh, this is a good song, I can jam to thisOkay, just breathe.Breathe.Breathe.Breathe.Ooh, another good song! This is a good playlist. I should save this playlist.Breathe. ​Breathe.

Mile 2

Mile 3

God, I love the piers. Who could ever hate this run?This place is beautiful. I love the water. I gotta move back to a beach.Ooh another runner! Smile and wave, smile and wave.Okay, relax and breathe.Breathe.Breathe.Oooh ooh another runner! Gotta beat them, okay speed up!Go, go, go!Anddddddddd the breakaway! Well played, Britt.Okay, and we're back!Silence​.

Mile 4

Silence.Silence.Silence.Wow, I'm already at Mile 4? How did that happen?Breathe. Breathe.​Breathe.

Time to go stretch!

Happy Wednesday!

I have an awesome recipe for you guys today! Remember how I said that my boyfriend cooked dinner for us on Friday night? Well, I got him to share his recipe with me so that I could let you guys in on the deliciousness. And let me tell you, you'll be shocked by how good this simple recipe is.

Presenting, the customizable spaghetti squash bowls!

These bowls are the perfect transition into October and the real fall weather! Filled with sautéed autumn veggies, baked cod, avocado and topped with an almond curry paste, this dish is packed with filling protein and good-for-you fats that help to absorb all the yummy vitamins and nutrients! Check it out below :)

Take the spaghetti squash out, and cut in half length-wise. Place the spaghetti squash back in the oven for 40 minutes (until the insides are crisp).

On the second shelf in the oven, bake the cod for 12-18 minutes.

While the spaghetti squash is baking, heat coconut oil or ghee in a medium sauté pan and cook your desired veggies.

To make the almond curry paste: in a small bowl, mix the almond butter, lemon juice, turmeric, and curry powder together with a spoon. To make thicker, add more almond butter. To make thinner, add more lemon juice.

Once the squash and fish are ready, fluff the spaghetti squash in each halved bowl. Assemble each bowl as follows: veggies, fish, half of an avocado, and a dollop of almond butter.

That's it for now! Let me know how you like it :)

Hey, guys! It's been a while. One week to be exact.

I really missed catching up with you! Last week was so busy with classes that I didn't really have time during the morning to share with you my daily musings. Back to normal now!

Remember how last week I said that when I take my next rest day, I wasn't going to feel guilty for it? Well guess what?! I did it!! Saturday morning rolled around and there was no alarm to be heard! I enjoyed every bit of it :) Friday evening, my boyfriend cooked me dinner (recipe to come Wednesday!), and I promptly passed out directly after eating, around 8 pm. Guys, I didn't wake up till 9:30 am the next morning. WHAT?! My body really needed the rest, so I gave it what it deserved, sans guilt.

After having a lazy morning, no workout and no alarm, we decided it was probably time for some noms so what better place to brunch than our favorite, Cafe Clover!

I'm still dreaming about this brunch. I had the egg white scramble with Brussels sprouts and broccoli, with a side of the Market Greens and GF toast (not pictured!). We also split a large Market Greens salad because we loved it so much!!

Afterwards, we strolled through Washington Square Park to Union Square, where they were having the Union Square Farmer's Market! It was absolute heaven there! Perfect way to kick off October! I mean, just look at the size of this pumpkin!!

After visiting every stand (I'm not kidding you. Every. single. stand.), we made our way home to get into pjs and watch Hocus Pocus (because what better way to celebrate the Halloween season than watching a classic Disney movie?!). We then tried a new place for dinner! Guys, this might be our new favorite restaurant. It's called The Little Beet Table, and it is absolutely incredible.

Not to be confused with its fast casual dining spot, The Little Beet (still incredible, but if you want a sit down experience, go to The Little Beet Table!), this place takes farm-fresh food and makes it into dishes like you've never seen before. Just pure genius! After spending 20 minutes trying to decided what we should even get for an appetizer, we started with this salad above and then moved onto this array of beauty below.

A double cheeseburger on a GF bun, brussels sprouts, and a squash and quinoa dish that was to die for. Oh, and did I mention that this restaurant is 100% GLUTEN-FREE?! Cue the hallelujah's!

Yes, a double cheeseburger. And it was amazing.

You better believe our plates were clean!! I cannot wait to go back and try new dishes (buttttt also get these again, because they were pretty damn fantastic!). So that's it for now, kids!! Check back Wednesday for a new recipe (it's been a while, no?). Have a wonderful start to your week, and go check out The Little Beet Table :) You won't be disappointed!